Melretta Lane

Milretta Carlsen Lane, 90, of St. Joseph, passed away Saturday, January 10, 2004 at Golden Place. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11:00 A.M. Tuesday at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, with Rev. Wade Panse officiating. Burial will follow at Hickory Bluff Cemetery, Stevensville. Friends may call from 5-7 P.M. Monday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church of St. Joseph or Hospice at Home. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Mrs. Lane was born October 6, 1913 in Breedsville, Michigan to Ferdinand & Mathilda (Stark) Johnson. She was a receptionist for Dr King & Dr. Courtright of Benton Harbor, and then worked for Whirlpool Corporation from 1950-1953 as payroll clerk. Milretta was a member of First United Methodist Church of St. Joseph, and past president of Alpha-Theta Sorority. She was an avid golfer and a former member of Berrien Hills Country Club. Mrs. Lane is survived by her daughter Wally (Norbert) Natzke of Stevensville; her son Donald (Dorothy) Carlsen of St. Joseph; four grandchildren Donald (Lynn Carlsen, Cindy (John) Osborne, Cathy (Eric) Siemans, Larry Beaudoin; & six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her first husband Wallace K. Carlsen during WWII, her second husband Forrest Lane in 1972 and her brother Mountvernon Johnson.